Know thou that the 613 Precepts of the Law form a compact with the Holy One — blessed be He! — and with Israel, as it is often explained in the Zohar. It is written (Exod. iii. 15), a This is My name, and this is My memorial." " My name," in the Hebrew characters, together with " Yeho," amounts numerically to 365; "Vah,* together with " My memorial," amounts to 248. Here we have the number 613 in the Holy One — blessed be He!
The soul is a portion of God from above, and this is mystically intimated by the degrees of " breath, spirit, soul," the initial and final letters of which amount to 613, while the middle letters of these amount to the number of " Lord, Almighty, God." The soul of Moses our Rabbi — peace be on him! — embraced all the souls of Israel; as it is said, Moses was equivalent to all Israel. " Moses our Rabbi" amounts to 613; and "Lord God of Israel" also amounts to 613.